1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to ball-lock mechanisms, and more particularly to ball-lock mechanisms which are unlocked by rotary as opposed to longitudinal motion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Military weapons such as bombs, torpedoes, missiles and the like, are customarily provided with a safing-arming mechanism which enables the weapon to be maintained in a safe or unfirable condition during handling, and to enable arming of the weapon when it is ready for use. These safing-arming mechanisms frequently take the form of a shaft or rod which is movable axially from a safe to an armed position. The arming shaft customarily carries either, an element of an explosive train held out of alignment to interrupt the explosive train when the arming shaft is in a safe position, or, a switch contact or contacts which are held out of their arming positions when the arming rod is in the safe position. A mechanism, such as a ball-lock mechanism, is provided to hold the arming shaft in the safe position until it is desired to arm the weapon.
Many prior art devices have used hardened metal balls to provide a variety of ball-lock mechanisms for arming shafts. These prior art devices have all used essentially a longitudinal motion to operate the ball-locking mechanism. This longitudinal motion is often undesirable. For weapons that are launched from aircraft and submarines, the method of keeping an arming device locked at all times can be a problem. In addition to requiring more space, certain prior art longitudinal locks tended to protrude from the surface of the weapon case after actuation which would increase aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag. Also, the prior art devices tend to reduce visibility of the arming shaft from the outside of the weapon case, thus making visual observation of a safe condition difficult or impossible.